


I'll Wait For You

by BlackStar3991



Series: Harringrove [9]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Protective Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 02:36:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19880206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackStar3991/pseuds/BlackStar3991
Summary: "Waiting anxiously, Steve can still feel the tingling sensation of Billy's hand on his shoulder. He looks at the clock, but nothing yet."_______It's Neil's drinking night with old friends, so Billy asks Steve to lay low at his house. What will Steve do when Billy doesn't show up?





	I'll Wait For You

**Author's Note:**

> SORRY  
> If anyone is following this series - THANK YOU SO MUCH and I LOVE YOU <3 <3 <3
> 
> To redeem myself, I'm already working on the next part!
> 
> Also:  
> ⊙ My computer is not currently working, lol, so I'm writing and posting this on mobile.  
> If there's anything funky with the format, let me know  
> ⊙ Again, I'm not a native english speaker, and on mobile I'm more likely to make typos and grammar mistakes. Please point them out so I can correct them!
> 
> Enjoy!

Waiting anxiously, Steve can still feel the tingling sensation of Billy's hand on his shoulder. He looks at the clock, but nothing yet. They hadn't really had an opportunity to talk today, just a hi between classes and some furtive glances on the halls (Billy winked at him one time and Steve nearly ran into a water fountain. Smooth fucker).

He looks at the clock again. For the thousandth time, his mind wonders back to yesterday afternoon.

"Shirt off, Harrington!" Billy said with a goddamn smirk.

Fuck. Steve has been dying to hear those words. Maybe when his parents aren't home, though. And when said shirt isn't all bloody. Or basically any other context. But, as it happens, they came straight back to his house from his little fiasco at practice. 

Well, they were alone in his room, at least. Steve took off his shirt with a low grunt - his shoulder still aching from the fall - while Billy popped open the tube of lotion.

"This stuff is actually really great." Billy gestures with the tube on his hand. "Next morning it alredy felt much better. You know, the... other day."

Steve was half glad half horrified to hear Billy talking so normally about "the other day", has if he hadn't shown up hurt in the middle of the night. But at least now Billy talks to him about it, so he takes it as a win.

After throwing his bloodied shirt towards the bathroom, Steve came to sit next Billy on the bed. Both were sitting sideways, with one leg on the mattress, so that Billy was facing Steve's back.

Billy's smooth hand forced a small shiver out of Steve - he didn't mention it, hoping Billy would assume it was from the cold lotion touching his skin. It warmed up pretty fast, though, and he couldn't help the pleased sigh that escaped his lips. Fuck it, anyway.

I mean, surely Billy didn't need to rub his back for so long. It was a small bruise. Nor did he have to rub it so slowly... Damn, it was good. At some point Billy started using both hands. Running them along Steve's shoulders, down his back. He was basically giving him a massage, and damn if Steve wasn't starting to lean back into it.

It kinda pisses him off how Billy is so confident and flirty when he knows nothing is gonna happen. Like when they were more enemies than not, and he knew Steve would never call his bluff. Now, it's when they are in public - or in Steve's room with the door open and parents home. But whenever the joking mood is off, Billy looks about to run for the hills. Steve gets it, but... He sighed.

"Woah, don't enjoy it too much, Pretty Boy. Take me to dinner first." The low voice came right behind his ear.

Steve just dismissed the remark and grunted in response, earning him a chuckle from Billy.

"Naah, you know what? You've done this for me more than once, I'm just returning the favor." he sounded a bit farther away, so he wasn't leaning towards Steve anymore.

"I told you it's not a favor, though. I..."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Um, about that, anyway... Can I, um..." Billy's hand came to a rest on Steve's left shoulder. His thumb was brushing his skin kinda nervously, Steve wouldn't be surprised if the boy didn't even notice he was doing it. "Tomorrow night is Neil's poker night, with some old pals. Booze, gambling and shit. I was thinking maybe I could..." he trailed off and cleaned his throat, voice failing to sound as casual as he probably hoped.

Lots of alcohol plus losing money is a recipe for disaster. Billy's disaster. Steve could see he was struggling with asking for help - fuck, he could feel the tension on the guy's arm. I mean, he's come knocking for help before (which must have been hard already), but that was only after Neil had already beaten him up and he had nowhere else to go. This was new. And it felt big.

"My folks are home till next week, so..." Steve started.  
"Oh, yeah, no problem. I'll, uh..."  
"NO no!" Steve cut him off, rushing his hand to cover Billy's where it still rested on his shoulder. Cursing internally for his terrible way with words, he continued: "I was gonna say, like, bring some books or something. I'll tell them we gotta pull an all-nighter on some school project."  
"Oh. Sure?"  
"Of course." He squeezed Billy's hand. "You can even knock this time, instead of throwing rocks at my window."  
"They were pebbles. Fuck off." Billy complained with a light shove, but Steve heard the smile on his voice.

He looks at the clock. Alright, there's gotta be something wrong now. Either Billy had second thoughts about officially spending a night here, or he's in trouble. Being honest with himself, Steve doesn't know which option is worse. The last thing he wants is for Billy to be in danger, of course. But he'd be lying if he said that the alternative (Billy regretting their friendship or not trusting him) didn't hurt as hell. Steve stops biting his nails and starts tapping on the desk. It's almost 9pm, he should be here by now. He looks at the clock.

"Fuck it." Steve mumbles to himself while getting up. He grabs the coat hanging on the back of a chair and leaves the room. "Hey, mom?" He calls from the front door. "I think my friend must've had some car problem or something. I'll be right back!"

Her head pops from the kitchen, where she was putting away the clean dishes, and tells him to take a coat and be back soon. He nods with a smile. It's nice having her around. Even though they have no idea (nor interest, really) of what goes on Steve's life lately, they're nice. And they're not bad parents, really. Not like...

Steve doesn't think about it right now, he just rushes outside. Before he even hears the front door banging shut behind him, he's already sitting in the car. 'Godddamn it, not again...' he thinks, gripping the steering wheel, as he considers where to start looking. Like that morning before school, he decides to head first towards Billy's house. Might as well. The streets are mostly empty at this hour, so he's there in no time.

Steve doesn't know whether he's more relieved or worried to see the blue camaro parked in front of the garage. He slows down and parks by the neighbours' lawn, where the car gets partially hidden by some hedges - just in case. It's quite silent on the street, so Steve makes sure the door doesn't bang. Sneaking closer to the house, he hears muffled voices talking - probably Neil and Max's mom. They sound kinda close, must be on the living room. Between crouching and lurking (and feeling like an idiot), Steve avoids the first floor windows and climbs on the outer wall. He's never been inside, but he remembers Billy's room from when the kids asked him to find Max's window. And they got it wrong. Very wrong. Thankfully, as it seems now.

The lights inside are on, but Billy is not there. With a careful nudge, Steve prods the window open and climbs in. 'This is stupid' he nods to himself. The door to Billy's small bathroom is ajar, and, with feather-light steps, Steve walks towards it.

Heart hammering in his chest, it crosses Steve's mind that, if anyone other than Billy is inside, this is going to be a fuckig catastrophe. It's embarrassing how far he went before his brain turned its gears on. But, as it is, his hand is already pulling the door open - thankfully it makes no sound. He sees Billy alone, his back turned to Steve, hunched over the sink in a tensed up manner. Steve reaches out a hand to the boy's shoulder and asks in a whisper:

"Billy, are you hu..." an elbow hits him across the face as Billy half jumps, half flinches back. "It's me, it's me!" Steve hushes out in alarm, stepping back with both hands raised in front of him.

He feels like shit. It was the stupidest idea ever. In the next few seconds he watches as the emotions on Billy's face change from fear and confusion into anger and... well, still confusion. The bright red (vaguely hand-shaped) mark on his cheek will probably fade soon, as will the pinkness around his glassy eyes. Steve's heart clenches.

"What... The. FUCK! Are you doing here, Harrington?!" Billy asks in a low voice that sounds like the whispered equivalent of yelling. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

"Sorry! I just..."

"You just fucking scared me half to death, you moron!" He shoves Steve with both hands, making him stumble out of the bathroom.

"I..."

"How did you even get in here?!" While he asks, he looks around and sees the open window. "What. The fuck?"

"Sorry! You didn't show, I got worried..."

With wild eyes, Billy grabs Steve by the front of his shirt. "And you decided to break in?! What if I don't want to be saved by King Steve, huh?" He snarls.

"Hey", Steve covers with his own hand the fist that is grabbing his shirt "Don't. I'm sorry." His hand gives a soft squeeze. "I'm an idiot. I didn't mean to sneak up on you. You okay?"

Billy holds his position for another moment, but the anger seems to deflate as the actual situation kicks in. He's still kinda pissed, though. But he lets go of Steve. He huffs out a breath and turns around, passing a hand through his hair. Steve bites his lip and stands around awkwardly, not knowing what to do with his hands.

"Do you have any idea how fucking dangerous this is? Don't even answer that. GodDAMNit..." he paces to the window and back, then walks past Steve and sits on the edge of the bed. "I was, uh... I thought he'd be in a good mood and I'd be able to leave sooner. Clearly I was wrong." He gestures to his own face. "I was waiting to slip out whenever he left for his poker."

Steve nods slowly, not sure what to say. He steps closer to Billy, but doesn't sit.

"You really came all the way here and broke into my house because I was late?" The anger seems to be gone now, leaving just the confusion.

"Yeah." Steve shrugs.

"What were you thinking?"

"Don't think I was, really." That startles a shocked chuckle out of Billy.

Very very slowly, and very very gently, Steve raises a hand and runs the back of his fingers down Billy's marred cheek. "Sorry." He holds his breath, hoping he didn't overstep, but the other doesn't seem to mind. Maybe he even leaned into the touch, if it wasn't just his imagination.

Billy shakes his head. "No, don't be, I... Oh shit!" He gets up widening his eyes. "Did I hurt you?"

Only now Steve remembers that his face in fact hurts a bit where the elbow hit him. Both were already stepping back at the same time, though, so it didn't land at full force.

"Fuck." Billy reaches a hand to Steve's face, but hesitates and lets it drop down. "Shit, I'm so sorry..."

"No no, you didn't! It was accident, I scared you. It's fine." The pain in those blue eyes is obvious. In spite of all the usual act, there's real fear of finding out he's like his father. "I promise."

"Look, you... you should go."

"Ok, I'll wait for you at my place."

"I don't know, if Neil follows me straight to you..."

"He won't, he'll be at poker." Billy makes a face, and Steve goes on before he can speak. "Meet me at the quarry, then."

"What's the difference if..."

"Please."

Billy sighs exasperated, but throws his hand up and nods. "Fine! I'll be there as soon as he leaves the house." He points to the window with no real annoyance. "Now fuck off!"

Steve smiles gives a gentle touch to Billy bicep. As he is turning around, heading back to the window, a hand holds his.

"Steve." He looks back at Billy, who squeezes his hand. "Thanks."

**Author's Note:**

> What are you guys thinking of it so far?
> 
> Please comment - every little key smash is a hug to the writer <3


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